the Kyte Monroe Memorial Playfield

the Kyte Monroe Memorial Playfield. Northwest Corner of Masonic Road and Harper Avenue. , In 1957, Clarence and Vicki Monroe, along with sons Kyte (b. November 25, 1942, d. November 24, 1961) and Greg moved to a new home on Recreation Street; relocating from the eastside of Detroit. Both sons left Annunciation Catholic School to enroll in the Lake Shore school system. Only three weeks into the new school year, Kyte asked his parent's permission to return to Annunciation from where he graduated in 1959. Kyte was a highly-regarded, three sport athlete in the Annunciation community. , , Unfortunately, a severe knee injury in a school football practice changed his life forever. The knee repair that Kyte received, although state-of-the-art for the period, put the young teen on the sidelines for the remainder of his life. Yet he quickly proved his mettle as a master of those sidelines. , , In the 1950s, the St. Clair Shores Recreation Department conducted summer playground activities at most elementary schools in the city. Kyte was hired to assist George Crellin, a Lake Shore teacher and coach. His aptitude for working with children became quickly evident in this role. Mollie Wilson Ostroski, then a child enrolled in the North Shore summer program, recalls the teen in this memory: "Kyte gave kids courage to be themselves...to like themselves because he liked us, and we knew it." , , Kyte was a sophomore at Michigan State University, studying education, when he died in an automobile accident just one day before his 19th birthday. He wanted to become a teacher... and a coach. In the obituary of Kyte Monroe published in the St. Clair Shores Herald, George Kaufman, then Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said: "[Kyte] was the youngest manager ever appointed for any Shores recreation team. When Kyte was 15 years old he managed the midget [baseball] team that won the city championship and went on to win the Metropolitan Midget tournament. He repeated the following year. In 1960, Kyte managed the team that won the City Pony League championship." At just eighteen years old, he was appointed a District Supervisor of the SCS Summer Playground Program. , , This playfield is built on the site of the old Washington Field. Largely because of the efforts of city residents, along with coaches Harry Lacey and Jim Williams, the field was re-dedicated in honor of Kyte Monroe on August 20, 1962. It has been expanded several times to include eight baseball/softball diamonds, a soccer field, a basketball court, two tennis courts, horseshoe pits and batting cages. Truly a playground for all.